The Glasgow Diary makes no apology for being a no-nonsense, heavy rock fan of the old school.

It’s been said cruelly to us that if you are a chap of a certain age and still insist on listening to AC/DC, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin then you are clearly a case of arrested development.

Our reply is that if arrested development has spared us from the fey, insipid debacle that is Coldplay or Adele then we recommend it for every child.

One of our saddest moments came in 2011 when Rock Radio 96.3, serving west central Scotland closed down to be replaced by something called XFM. Rock Radio was the best radio station we had ever encountered in our entire lives.

Led Zeppelin (Image: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)

Previously, you would consider yourself to be blessed if you’d heard the a few bars of Smoke on the Water on radio normal or Whole Lotta Love and maybe the odd Genesis track. But this radio station played all our favourite bands morning, noon and night and its presenters didn’t speak to us as though we were all in a care home.

Then, almost as quickly as it had arrived it had disappeared and dismal service on our local radio airwaves was resumed. Local radio in this city has for too long been dominated by large media conglomerates giving us pre-packaged, formulaic rubbish delivered by presenters who ought never to have been allowed out of Butlin’s.

Now though, Rock Radio Glasgow is bidding for the old 96.3FM licence under the expert guidance of Ciaran O’Toole, Donald MacLeod and Paul McManus, three of the sharpest veterans of the music scene in and around the city.

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They are promising to deliver a radio station which will promote and play emerging young Glasgow rock bands and provide assistance to music students who are looking for a way into the industry. It will properly support the Glasgow music scene by providing jobs and training for aspiring young music professionals.

Public support for Rock Radio Glasgow’s has been phenomenal with almost 10,000 Facebook likes in just a few weeks. This is a bid the city can get behind and which we’ve been waiting decades for.

We have some words of warning to the organisers, though. If you win the bid the Diary will be monitoring your output closely to ensure you play the right sort of rock. We don’t mind the odd Oasis, Simple Minds and Kasabian, even Bruce Springsteen at a push – because we know you kind of have to – but there has to be a steady diet of Van Halen, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Whitesnake, Lynyrd Skynyrd, UFO, Diamond Head, Metallica.

And, because it’s a Glasgow station, the song that must launch it has to be Word Up by Gun.

Billy's still rockin'

We understand that the Rock Radio Glasgow team have a number of fine presenters lined up but we would make a special plea for them to get Glasgow’s own Billy Sloan, our favourite DJ and music journalist of all time. Billy knows almost as many people as The Glasgow Diary does but the new radio station probably couldn’t afford him.

We were delighted when Radio Scotland gave him a new Sunday late night slot. Billy, at heart, is an old rocker like wurselves and, even though it’s BBC Scotland he manages to sneak in some seriously and authentic classic rock.

Billy Sloan (right) with Paolo Nutini (Image: Media Scotland)

Billy’s tribute the other week to poor Prince was also one of the best radio shows we’ve heard this year, including a belter of an account of an off the cuff gig that the wee man played at the city’s Garage nightclub in the early 90s after a show at the SECC.

Rumour has it that the bouncer at The Garage didn’t recognise Prince at first behind all his purple finery. The problem was resolved though, when the singer mentioned that he was a mate of Billy Sloan.

Everyone is enjoying the sun

It's taps-aff weather in Glasgow and the city’s parks have become a riot of cherry blossom pink, and that’s just the colour of the west of Scotland flesh getting its first outing of the year.

Some of our favourite memories are of times spent in Glasgow’s parks: either playing football or having al fresco drinking sessions. Rouken Glen on the South Side is our favourite but Kelvingrove is a close second.

The city is, of course full of green spaces, but we’ve also been very fond of Glasgow’s great graveyards.

During a recent hospital visit to see a sick elderly relative at the Royal Infirmary we were delighted to see that his ward gave superb view of the Necropolis, one of the finest old graveyards in the country.

"Taps aff" (Image: SNS Group)

So immediately we resolved to spend the following afternoon there among the tombstones of the great, the good; the rascals and robbers of Glasgow’s past.

We were delighted to discover too that in one sheltered corner of the cemetery a little colony of jaikies had set up shop for the day with their Buckfast and Special Brew.

They were having a great time and we were enchanted with the thought that the bodies of some old city prohibitionists were birling in their graves as the jaikies danced over them.

The 'silly' rule of golf

The Diary loved the photograph of a 16ft alligator ambling over the fairways of a golf course in Florida.

The big chap looked like he was caring not a jot as he went for a stroll and, not for the first time, we encountered pangs of regret that alligators are not one of Scotland’s native species.

For then we could enjoy tales of members of Pollok Golf Club checking to see if it was a male alligator or a female before telling it to carry on. “And the next time put on a jacket.”

We’re informed that Pollok, one of the last bastions of discrimination against women in Glasgow, is to consider lifting its ban.

We would encourage the club wholeheartedly to bin this silly rule and, who knows; in time they might also be encouraged to lift its ban on normal human beings.